Be the change and become a water champion

During the recent launch of the National Water Conservation campaign, the Minister for Energy and Water Management Joe Mizzi together with the CEO for the Energy and Water Agency, Manuel Sapiano, unveiled the Water Be the Change campaign. This campaign aims to deliver an effective educational and awareness building drive on the optimised and efficient use of water resources and to facilitate a cultural shift in people’s behaviour towards water consumption and conservation on the Maltese Islands.

The general public is being invited to get involved directly and to be part of the change by replying to an expression of interest that is being launched as one of the first initiatives to kick-off this threeyear campaign. Applicants should be interested in a free technical intervention in their home which will enable them to become more water efficient.

In a nutshell, applicants who are eligible and in line with the terms and conditions set out in the application form will get a free audit of their household. Officers from the Water Be the Change campaign will visit the households to evaluate the water consumption on site and discuss what measures can be undertaken in order to improve water efficiency.

These measures can include simple changes such as the replacement of water use points or inefficient appliances or a more hard-line approach if needed, such as overseeing rehabilitation works on cisterns or the replacement of leaking water pipes if required.

Following the audit, each case will be discussed under the guidance of a professional engineer and should the recommendations be feasible and agreed upon by the applicant, works are commissioned, implemented and monitored, free of charge. These successful applicants will become Malta’s Water champions by providing a tangible example to all on how water conservation schemes can be implemented in practice in an efficient manner.

The overall aim of this scheme is to demonstrate how a few simple measures will go a long way to improve the efficient use of water and how water resources can be used effectively and in an increasingly sustainable manner.

Applications are now open and participants will be selected on several criteria in order to ensure the widest sample of the general population.

Those interested in being part of this positive change and in becoming Water champions can apply through www.water.org.mt or www.ilma.org.mt